Cornwall, Devon, Southern Wales & the Wye: Picturesque Coasts And
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Cornwall, Devon, Southern Wales & the Wye: Picturesque Coasts and Country Life 2023 6 JUN – 26 JUN 2023 Code: 22319 Tour Leaders Richard Heathcote, Margaret Heathcote Physical Ratings A unique tour of south-west England, Wales and the Wye Valley, an area that has inspired diverse writers and artists, with its rich, varied coastal landscapes and picturesque countryside. Overview Join Richard Heathcote (Director of Benefaction at Carrick Hill, Adelaide, and National Chair of the Australian Garden History Society) and conservation architect Margaret Heathcote on this unique tour of south-west England, Wales and the Wye Valley, an area that has inspired diverse writers and artists, with its rich, varied coastal landscapes and picturesque countryside. Enjoy the distinctive coasts of Cornwall, including St Michael’s Mount, that inspired artists like Barbara Hepworth and formed the setting of the Poldark period novels and TV series. Explore the fascinating culture of mining in Cornwall, where mines were dug kilometres out under the seabed. Review the romantic history of smuggling in the tiny, picturesque fishing port of Polperro. Throughout the tour, visit many marvellous country houses from the Tudor, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Georgian and Victorian periods, including Godolphin, Prideaux Place, and Lanhydrock. Wander through the revolutionary Eden Project, which features two ultra-modern domes that emulate natural biomes. By special appointment, visit a number of private gardens including the Arts and Crafts garden at High Glanau Manor; the ornamental Veddw House Garden; the romantic Trematon Castle Gardens; and Laskett Gardens, the creation of Sir Roy Strong CH and his late wife, Julia Trevelyan Oman. Follow artists like Gainsborough and J.M.W. Turner to the picturesque ruins of Tintern Abbey and on a cruise down one of the loveliest stretches of the Wye River. Learn about tensions between the Saxons, Normans, Vikings and Welsh by visiting a number of stately castle ruins – Tretower Castle, Chepstow Castle and Stokesay Castle, considered the finest and best-preserved fortified medieval manor house in England. Wander through some of England’s loveliest villages and small towns such as Dunster, Bruton and Ludlow, with many of Britain’s finest Tudor, Elizabethan and Jacobean half-timbered houses. Trace the history of British garden design, especially masterpieces of the late 19th and early 20th century, including the terraced garden at Castle Drogo designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. In Bristol, take a private tour of Brunel’s SS Great Britain and view the Clifton Suspension Bridge, two revolutionary projects of Britain’s greatest 19th-century engineer. In Cardiff, view one of Europe’s finest, but least known, Impressionist collections at the National Museum; and explore the open-air museum at St Fagans, which contains over 50 re-erected buildings from various locations in Wales. With a local ornithologist, sail to Skomer, an island off the Pembrokeshire coast, to see Manx Shearwaters and southern England’s largest colony of Atlantic puffins. View playful otters at the sanctuary in Dartmoor, and take a steam train along the historic Dean Forest Railway. In St Mary's Church, Kempley, view some of the best preserved medieval wall paintings in Britain. Study some of the finest masterpieces of the late 19th century Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts movements at Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton. Savour the delights of West Country cuisine in exceptional restaurants, including Rick & Jill Stein's The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow. Stay in several heritage hotels including the The Castle at Taunton; and The Angel Hotel, a former coaching inn at Abergavenny. Overnight Taunton (1 night) • Penzance (3 nights) • St Austell (3 nights) • Taunton (1 night) • Abergavenny (5 nights) • Tenby (2 nights) • Hereford (4 nights) Cornwall, Devon, Southern Wales & the Wye: Picturesque Coasts and Country Life 2023 March 2021 Page 2 Leaders Richard Heathcote Director of Benefaction at Carrick Hill house and garden, National Chair of the Australian Garden History Society, author & ABC presenter, graduate of the Attingham Summer School & member of Royal Collections Studies group, Richard introduces his Britain to ASA travellers. Richard Heathcote is currently Director of Benefaction at Carrick Hill historic house and garden in Adelaide, after holding the position of Director for several years. He previously managed, for a decade, Rippon Lea Estate, the National Trust's flagship property in Melbourne. Richard is also National Chair of the Australian Garden History Society. He presented for ABC TV's The New Eden – a six part series tracing the evolution of the Australian garden, and has broadcast and published on heritage buildings and gardens. The fine collection of British and Australian paintings at Carrick Hill has provided rich material for Richard to create exhibitions and associated publications, using his particular talent of making art accessible to everyone. As a graduate of the prestigious Attingham Summer School for the Study of the English Country House, he has an extensive knowledge of architecture, collections and social history. Awarded a Churchill Fellowship, he was able to visit places in Canada and Britain looking at interpretation of heritage sites. Richard joined the prestigious 2011 Royal Collections Studies group that is granted permission to inspect the Queen's collection at Windsor Castle and other Royal palaces. Richard first joined ASA in 2006, as co-leader of ASA's tour run in association with the National Trust of Victoria, entitled From Great Houses to village Greens: the Making of the English Landscape. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtNb2F17qvM Margaret Heathcote A conservation architect and an Attingham scholar. Her wide knowledge of heritage buildings will help you understand the history of the castles, halls and houses we visit. Margaret Heathcote studied architecture at Sydney University, and assisted with artist Christo’s wrapping of Little Bay. While completing her studies at the University of Westminster in London she sang with the Philharmonia Chorus of London, and had holiday jobs in Lyon, France and Michigan, USA. Margaret met Richard in London, and they returned to Sydney, later moving to Melbourne, where she worked in commercial architectural practices. A change of professional direction took her into the heritage field, Cornwall, Devon, Southern Wales & the Wye: Picturesque Coasts and Country Life 2023 March 2021 Page 3 working with historic civic buildings, residences and even lighthouses. Completing a Master’s degree in Cultural Heritage at Deakin University included a study trip to heritage sites in Vietnam and Cambodia, and a semester at the University of Leuven, Belgium. Now in Adelaide, Margaret works as a conservation architect with the SA State Heritage Unit, and attended the 2014 Attingham Trust Study Programme visiting heritage sites and collections in Belgium. She joined ASA as a tour manager in 2012. Combine this tour with Romania Revealed: Saxon Villages, Transylvanian Cities and Byzantine Monasteries 2023 24 MAY – 6 JUN 2023 Heritage Cities of the Baltic: Vilnius, Kaunas, Riga, Tartu & Tallinn 2023 27 JUN – 11 JUL 2023 Cornwall, Devon, Southern Wales & the Wye: Picturesque Coasts and Country Life 2023 March 2021 Page 4 Itinerary The following itinerary describes a range of castles, country houses, museums and other sites which we plan to include. Many are accessible to the public, but others require special permission which may only be confirmed closer to the tour's departure. The daily activities described in this itinerary may change or be rotated and/or modified in order to accommodate alterations in opening hours, flight schedules and confirmation of private visits. Participants will receive a final itinerary together with their tour documents prior to departure. The tour includes breakfast daily, lunches & dinners indicated in the detailed itinerary where: B=breakfast, L=lunch and D=dinner. Taunton, Somerset – 1 night Day 1: Tuesday 6 June, Heathrow Airport – Taunton Arrive Heathrow Airport and transfer to Taunton Light (2-course) Welcome Dinner Participants travelling on the ASA ‘designated’ flight are scheduled to arrive into London Heathrow mid- morning. Upon arrival we transfer by private coach to Taunton. Those taking alternative flights and wishing to join the group transfer will be required to meet in the Arrivals Hall at a designated place and time. Alternatively, you may wish to travel to Taunton independently; Great Western Railway operates a train from London Paddington to Taunton hourly. After check in, there will be time at leisure before we convene for a light, two-course Welcome Dinner. (Overnight Taunton) D Penzance, Cornwall – 3 nights Day 2: Wednesday 7 June, Taunton – Bruton – Penzance Cornwall, Devon, Southern Wales & the Wye: Picturesque Coasts and Country Life 2023 March 2021 Page 5 Private art gallery and garden Lunch ‘At the Chapel’, Bruton Today we visit a gallery which displays masterpieces from world-leading contemporary artists. The gallery architecture is a masterful combination of traditional vernacular elements and ultra-modern features, while the garden, designed by the legendary landscape architect Piet Oudolf, is a gently sloping meadow enclosed by hedges containing 25,000 herbaceous perennials in a variety of shapes, colours and textures. After enjoying this extraordinary art centre, we shall lunch in ‘At the Chapel’ restaurant in Bruton which, as its name suggests, occupies a 17th-century chapel. After lunch there will be some time at leisure to explore the village before continuing our journey south to the port town of Penzance in Cornwall. (Overnight Penzance) BL Day 3: Thursday 8 June, Penzance – St Michael’s Mount – Godolphin – Penzance St Michael’s Mount: medieval castle & coastal gardens Godolphin: historic house & medieval garden This morning we make a short causeway walk or boat trip (depending on tides) to Saint Michael’s Mount. An early medieval monastery probably occupied this site. It became a dependent house of the monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy and then passed to various monastic orders before becoming a possession of the St Aubyn family in 1650.